Transcript: Coach Billick's post-practice news conference

Coach Billick: We'll see, he's having to deal with a personal issue, some serious things going on that he has to attend to. I think he should be ready to go for Thursday night but we're going to have to respect what he's dealing with at home.

Billick: Yeah, running around, we'll decide what he's going to do Thursday night  a series or two. Right now we seem fairly healthy we'll all get a better feel for it once we get through the practice and see where some of the pulls and aches and pains are going. But right now we're fairly full strength.

Q: What role is Devard Darling going to play in your offense this season?

Billick: We're going to find out. I haven't seen him in a real game yet so I've got no clue  haven't got a clue. But he sure shows a lot of promise.

Q: Brian, do you sense today that the guys are just clamoring to play against somebody?

Billick: To a degree, they were pretty focused today. We'll probably see it a little bit tomorrow, a little bit more. They're ready to play a game, we're ready to play a game, I think  I hope. But, yeah, they're ready to do something else than what we've been doing.

Q: [Redskins tackle] Jon Jansen got hurt last night, probably out for the year, and a lot of players will say that these games are meaningless. Obviously to you and the coaching staff they're not.

Billick: Never. You never step on a football field without a purpose. I don't care if it's practice, walk-through, or in a game  you better have a purpose. That's all you can focus on, yes every time there's a potential for injury  you can't focus on it, because then, hell, just don't play. If we didn't have to do this, we wouldn't.

Q: How much do you hold your breath when your front-line guys are out there, even for that one quarter?

Billick: I worry. I worry all the time, but you can't let it paralyze you and you've got to play the game and go.

Billick: Up-tempo. Up-tempo, which is very good. I can imagine this guy, in bed at night like a little puppy chasing a rabbit whit those little puppy dreams. I guarantee at night he's twitching and moving in the same way, which is great  the players respond to that.

Q: What do you think of grown men and women out here, fans, wearing football jerseys?